#MyWheaton Blog

College Union: Live, Laugh, Let Loose!

During our last All School Communion, Chaplain Blackmon asked the student body to take out our phones and tweet our prayer for Wheaton College. Without hesitation, I typed with my millennial-paced thumbs, “that our campus would take itself less seriously.” This prayer for Wheaton has also motivated my involvement in College Union during my junior and senior years at Wheaton.

College Union is an organization composed of 12 students who coordinate some of Wheaton’s most beloved events: President’s Ball, Talent Show, Roller Disco, Air Jam, Class Films, and dozens more. But College Union is about so much more than simply drawing large crowds of people. We believe that behind the strange costumes, loud music, and goofy events lie our mission and purpose—because Wheaton students, myself included, have a tendency to take ourselves too seriously.

On College Union, we believe that our events matter to the vitality of our campus because they remind our accomplishment and excellence-saturated culture that there is more to us as people than what we do, or what we accomplish. A good GPA, which I may or may not possess, or a robust résumé, of which I may or may not boast, are fine, but they can never take the place of laughter, goofiness, or letting loose that is necessary for human flourishing. As the song goes, “a little party never killed nobody.”

This mission, to offer events that energize our student body, keeps the College Union team motivated to continue to provide some of the staple events that our campus community looks forward to every year. But this doesn’t exhaust College Union’s mission: this year’s team is always looking for new and fresh ways to invigorate our campus. Already this year we have introduced a mechanical bull at our annual square dance and used the French House as a massive canvas for community art pieces. Who knows what this year’s College Union team will dream up next? And hopefully, event by event, our campus will be encouraged to play, goof around, and ultimately, take ourselves less seriously.

Tyler Hansen '16, a Biblical and Theological studies major, is the president of CU this year. Visit their websites for more information about and Student Activities Office (SAO) events.

Photo Credits: College Union 2014-15; Taylor Schuster '16 tries his hand at the square dance's mechanical bull this fall; students explore the spray-painted walls of the French House during College Union's SASS event.